Category: Inventors

William Hannis Taylor- Unheralded Genius?

April 12, 2016

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jpkntz

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Diving, Heroic Age of Diving, Inventors

It isn’t difficult to understand why William Hannis Taylor (1806-1848) ended his short life impoverished and forgotten. He was a terrible businessman, who convinced others to invest in high-risk schemes, and appeared have had no ethical hesitations in doing so. This trait was in evidence from an early age: in 1827, at age 21, he…
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SCUBA, circa 1855

January 7, 2016

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jpkntz

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Diving, Heroic Age of Diving, Inventors

While preparing book talks for my forthcoming title, The Heroic Age of Diving, I came across a long forgotten, failed attempt at self-contained underwater breathing apparatus–in 1855! So far, no other experts I’ve checked with recognize Levy’s name. However, Levy was not the only one working on the concept in the late 1840s and early…
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